§ Mr. HardyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what action was taken by Her Majesty's inspectorate of mines in regard to the under-reporting of dust counts in British mines which was referred to the inspectorate earlier this year; and when the inspectorate was first aware of the under-reporting.
§ Mr. Michael Forsyth[pursuant to his reply of 4 November 1993]: I wish to announce that the report of the investigation by the Health and Safety Executive's inspectorate of mines into respirable dust sampling at British Coal Corporation mines is released today.
The investigation was undertaken following allegations of widespread tampering with dust sampling equipment and expressions of concern about discrepancies between the results of routine statutory sampling of respirable dust and check sampling undertaken by BCC.
The mines inspectorate has thoroughly investigated these allegations but has found no evidence to substantiate them. It has also reviewed the procedures for monitoring dust levels.
The report identifies weaknesses in the integrity of the sampling instruments and in the arrangements for their security while stored at individual mines. It therefore makes a number of sensible recommendations with the aim of ensuring long-term confidence in the dust sampling programme at mines. These include the proofing of sampling instruments against tampering and improved, more secure, arrangements for the storage of instruments at mine sites. The report also recommends that consideration should be given to the introduction of independent dust sampling and audit procedures.
I have today sent a copy of the report to the hon. Member for Wentworth (Mr. Hardy) and for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner) who wrote to me on the matter. Copies have also been placed in the Library.